Blinded by Sand
by FaithInHim4ever
Summary: I've never had a problem seeing. Until we got lost out here that is. Out here, I'm completely blind and helpless. Takes place within The Fury of Aang. RR


DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT own the characters from Avatar. They belong to Nickelodeon. I also don't own some of the dialogue in the story. It also belongs to Nick.

May the light of God shine upon everyone and keep them safe as well as the power of water be with everyone always.

Lauren

A/N: This story came to mind while I was watching The Fury of Aang the other day. I hope everyone likes it.

"Blinded by Sand"

I sighed as I heard Appa groan again. I knew what he wanted and I wasn't about to give in. I knew he was used to getting his way with Katara, but he wasn't about to get his way with me. I was as stubborn as my element and I was going to show it.

"Appa, I already told you, I don't want to snuggle."

Appa groaned again, but this time, it was a different kind of groan. Being blind and very alert to sounds around me, not to mention vibrations-although there were almost none out here where I was currently standing, I knew something was wrong.

I gasped as I felt the ground beneath me start to shake.

"Library sinking." I said, not really wanting to believe that it was true. Then as the ground shuddered beneath me, making me almost topple over, I started to panic. "Library sinking!" With that, I Gave it all I could and put my earthbending to the test. But no matter how hard I Tried, I wasn't able to control the earth. My element was turning against me and I didn't like it. It was scaring me and most of all, it was making me feel something that I wasn't used to feeling and that was helpless. I was NOT, nor had I ever been helpless. Helpless was just as foreign to me as sun rises and sunsets were to Katara and Sokka.

But as I made another effort to control my element, with no success, I started to get mad. I wanted to protect my friends and I couldn't even do that. The one thing I had counted on my whole life, the one source of sight for me, was slipping away through my feet and there was nothing I could do about it.

As I tried yet again to secure the library and keep it in tact so that my friends-no-so that my family could get out safely, I found it was no use. The library was doing everything it could to work against me.

As I was about to resign myself to fate, I found a burst of strength and energy from within and used it to my advantage.

Just then, I heard Appa groan again. This time, I heard something behind me. I whirled around to face whoever was there.

"Whose there!" I shouted, trying to sound braver than I felt. I was all alone and virtually completely blind. Without earth, I was no match for whoever had come to hurt us.

There was no answer, except for Appa's continuous groans of fear and warning.

"I know Appa! I know!" I shouted, feeling terrible for not being able to help him. "I'm trying! I'm trying!" With that, I tried to bend the sand, but it was no use. All it did was go right back to where it had been before I Had attempted to move it.

"Crud!" I shouted, frustrated at my failed attempts to save Appa.

As I heard them dragging Appa away, I felt tears come to my eyes. I was afraid of what Aang would say when he found out and I was also afraid of what the other's would say. I knew Katara wouldn't be too hard on me and I knew from experience that Sokka was less than fond of Apa, but I knew Aang would be heartbroken. And what would that do to our relationship as Sifu and student, or more importantly, what would it do to our friendship?

"I'm sorry Appa." I said, sincerely, tears forming in my eyes.

I didn't have to wait long to find out what the others would say. Five minutes after the sandbenders left, I heard Sokka's familiar excited voice from somewhere to the right of me.

"We got it! There's a solar eclipse coming. The fire nation's in trouble now!"

I didn't even make a sound to acknowledge I had heard him. I hung my head in shame and defeat and let the tears fall. I wiped them away before anyone could see, but I had a feeling Katara saw.

Before Katara could make any moves to comfort me or ask me what had happened, Aang asked the question I was dreading.

"Where's Appa?"

I shook my head and fought hard to not let the tears show. I was feeling terrible for what I had let happen and hearing Aang's scared voice made me feel even worse.

But I had a feeling that Aang's tone was about to change from scared to mad. And boy was I ever right.

"I…I…I'm so sorry, Aang!" I said, not even bothering to use my signature name of Twinkel Toes for the young airbender. "I tried my best but…but I couldn't do anything to stop them. I'm sorry!" I was starting to let my emotions get the better of me, which meant I was going to start crying soon.

"How could you let them take Appa!" Aang shouted, practically getting in my face. "Why didn't you stop them?"

"I couldn't! The library was sinking, you guys were still inside and…"

I sensed his movement and backed away, right into Katara. I was about to move forward to give my sister some room, but she pulled me closer, wrapping a protective arm around me.

"You could have come to get us! I could have saved him!" Aang shouted, his tone no less angry, but he had refrained from getting in my face again. I guessed Katara had put him in his place visually.

"I can hardly feel any vibrations out here! The sandbenders snuck up on me and there wasn't time to…" My voice trailed off as I fought back tears.

Katara gave my shoulders a comforting squeeze from behind.

"You just didn't care! You never liked Appa, you wanted him gone!" Aang shouted, turning his back on me.

I couldn't answer. If I did, I knew I was going to start crying, and that was something I definitely didn't want to do at the moment.

Thankfully, Katara stepped in.

"Aang, stop it. You know Toph did all she could. She saved our lives."

I gave Katara a tiny smile and grabbed onto her elbow as she led us to a safe place to sleep for the night.

Aang had decided to go after Appa, but he didn't have any success. He wouldn't look at me for the rest of the time we were traveling to Bah Sen Sei and it made me feel terrible. I kept my emotions in as best I could, although I knew it wouldn't last for long.

That night, we were all sleeping, or supposed to be anyway. But as hard as I tried, I couldn't fall asleep. The earlier events of the day kept playing in my mind, not allowing me any rest.

As I rolled over for the umpteenth time, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I almost jumped, but then I recognized how it was immediately. There was only one person who had a touch that gentle.

"Toph?" Katara asked, sitting down next to me. "Toph, are you okay?"

That did it. I shook my head as the flood gates opened.

"He hates me!" I cried, burying my face in Katara's shoulder. "I didn't do it on purpose! I tried my best! I tried to save him, but I couldn't see! I couldn't see anything out there! I couldn't do anything to stop them! I'm sorry!"

"Shh, shh, it's okay, Toph, it's all right. It's gonna be okay. Aang doesn't hate you. He's just really confused and angry right now. But he'll come around."

I nodded, even though I wasn't convinced by Katara's words.

"Do you want to try and get some sleep?" Katara asked, patting my shoulder and giving me a kiss on my cheek. "You need your rest. We need to get up in a few hours."

I nodded and allowed Katara to tuck me in.

After I was comfortable, I heard Katara start to sing and I was out in a matter of ten minutes. I must have been more tired than I thought.

As I drifted off to sleep, I made a promise to myself. I promised myself that I would try harder next time to protect Appa when w got him back. I also made a promise to myself that I would do whatever it took to gain Aang's trust back. I wanted it back so badly, but I knew it was just going to take time. But I knew deep down inside that it was going to take more than time to get it back. It was going to take a miracle.

THE END


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